Multiple retaining wall block unit with off-center splitting grooves

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a multiple retaining wall block unit provided with at least one set of splitting grooves positioned in such a manner as to permit splitting and separation of the blocks from the unit. The invention lies in that the set of splitting grooves is located along the unit in such a manner that the adjacent blocks that can be splitted, are not of a same length. As a result, the blocks when stacked on top of each other, have their front faces that do not extend necessarily in the same place, thereby giving more originality to the look of the retaining wall.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an improved multiple retaining wallblock unit provided with splitting grooves positioned in such manner asto permit splitting and separation of the blocks from the unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Multiple retaining wall block unit of the above-mentioned type are wellknown in the field to which the present invention belongs. In thisconnection by way of non restrictive examples, reference can be made toFIGS. 9 and 10 and to the corresponding part of the specification ofU.S. Pat. No. 5,622,456 to Angelo RISI et al. Reference can also be madeto FIGS. 2 to 4 and to the corresponding part of the specification ofU.S. Pat. No. 4,860,505 to David C. BENDER.

The existing multiple retaining wall block units usually comprises onlytwo blocks having front surfaces facing each other in the same verticalplane. Said units are also devised in such manner that the blocks, whensplitted, be of the same length.

The blocks that are so splitted are usually provided with tonguesprojecting upwardly from their upper surface and grooves made in theirbottom surface, in order to allow stacking of the blocks one on top ofthe other in order to form a retaining wall. As to this kind of blockswith tongues and grooves and the way they can be stacked onto eachother, reference can be made to the numerous prior art references thatexists in this field, including in particular the two above-mentionedpatents.

In practice, these tongues and grooves may be positioned in such manneras to allow the blocks to be stacked in such manner that the resultingwall be either battered or vertical. In this connection, and by way ofnon restriction example only, reference can be made to the content ofCanadian patent no. 2,469,128 to Angelo RISI.

As it may be appreciated upon reviewing the various patents discussedhereinabove, when use is made of blocks of a same size to build up aretaining wall, the front surfaces of the blocks extending in a samehorizontal row of the wall all extend in a substantially the samevertical plane. The planes of the various rows all extend also in thesame plane when the wall is vertical. When the wall is battered, theseplanes extend at different distances away from each other. However, inthe latter case, the blocks of a same row have their front surfaces thatextend all together in the same plane, as was disclosed hereinabove.

It is apparently of common practice for some consumers to ask forretaining walls made of blocks that would not necessarily extend in asame plane in order to give more “originality” to the look of theretaining wall. In such a case, however, it is compulsory from themanufacturer to order and use different units containing blocks ofdifferent length or to use blocks having a plurality of tongues andgrooves on their upper and lower surfaces.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has now been found that the above-mentioned requirement of some ofthe consumers to have blocks positioned and shaped in such manner as togive a different look to the front surface of a retaining wall made fromsaid blocks can easily be achieved by using blocks which come from sameunits but not with a same length.

It has also been found that blocks on different lengths compatible witheach other and stackable one upon the other can be easy obtained fromsuch same units provided that, contrary to what has been done so far,the sets of splitting grooves used on the unit in order to split thesame in order to separate the blocks be not always positioned just inthe middle of each unit or at places of the unit that make it splittableinto blocks of a same size and form as it has always been done so far.

Thus, the present invention is directed with an improved multipleretaining wall block unit provided with at least one set of splittinggrooves positioned in such manner as to permit splitting and separationof the blocks of the unit, which improvement lies in that each of thesplitting grooves is located along the unit in such manner that theadjacent blocks that are splitted, are not of a same length.

As is of common practice, each block of the unit advantageously has anupper surface provided with at least one upwardly projecting tongues anda bottom surface with at least one groove sized to receive the tonguesof the similar block extending below when the retaining wall is builtup. As a result, inasmuch as the blocks are no more of a same length,different positioning of the front surface of each block may varydepending on the length of the block that is being used. As a result,the front surface area of the retaining wall made from the blocks mayhave a look which is not “uniform,” as it was done so far.

In accordance with a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention,each unit comprises only two blocks having front surfaces facing eachother in the same vertical plane. The set of splitting grooves used tosplit the two blocks is of course positioned in this vertical plane.Once again, in order to achieve the result mentioned hereinabove, thevertical plane is off-center with respect to the unit.

The invention will be better understood upon reading the following nonrestrictive description made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a retaining wall made of blockssplitted from a multiple retaining wall block units according to theinvention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a double retaining wall block unitaccording to the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the unit shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of a variant of the unit shown inFIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of a battered retaining wall made ofblocks splitted from units as shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of a vertical retaining wall made ofblocks splitted from units as shown in FIG. 4, after having furthersplitted one part of the tongues projecting from their upper surfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

In the following description, reference will be made exclusively tomultiple retaining wall block unit comprising two blocks exclusively.

It is worth noting however that the invention also applies to any otherkind of multiple retaining wall block unit comprising more than twoblocks, like for example, the units disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,456to Angelo RISI et al.

In the following description, reference will be made also only to blockshaving tongues and grooves that are vertically offset, each of thetongues also having a splitting groove extending transversally over itslength in order to allow reduction of its size and thus allow blocks tobe positioned in line when needs be, as is disclosed in Canadian patentno. 2,469,128 to Angelo RISI.

It is worth noting however that the invention is not restricted to thesevery specific embodiments and could be used to any kind of blocks usedto manufacture retaining walls, which are molded from concrete in theform of units comprising two or more blocks that can be splitted fromthe unit whenever desired thanks to the presence of sets of splittinggrooves positioned at suitable locations.

It is worth noting also that each block may comprise more than onetongue and more than one groove. They can actually be as disclosed inU.S. Pat. No. 4,860,505 to David C. BENDER.

As a matter of fact, as was already emphasized hereinabove in theSummary of the invention, the invention actually lies that the set ofsplitting grooves used to split and separate each block from the unitis/are positioned in such a manner as to make it possible for theadjacent blocks that are splitted not to be of a same length, the basicpurpose of that being. to allow building of a retaining wall with adifferent look inasmuch as the front surface of some blocks may extendforwardly or rearwardly from the adjacent blocks even when these blocksare positioned in the same horizontal row. Such is actually shown inFIG. 1.

The improved multiple retaining wall block unit 1 according to thepreferred embodiment of the invention as shown in FIG. 2 of theaccompanying drawings, comprises two blocks 3 and 3′ which are of thesame structure as to the blocks disclosed and claimed in Canadian patentno. 2,469,128 to Angelo RISI. Each of these blocks 3, 3′ comprises anupper surface 5 with a transversal tongue 7 of the given width thatprojects upwardly from it. Each of these blocks 3, 3′ also comprises abottom surface 9 with a transversal groove 11 sized to receive thetongue 7 of another similar block positioned below and thus to allowstacking of the blocks as is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

In the illustrated embodiment, the tongue 7 of each block is alsoprovided with a splitting groove 13 sized and positioned to allowsplitting of the tongue with a splitting tool along a transversal linethat is positioned to permit a remaining portion of the tongue 7 to fitinto the groove of a further similar block stacked on top of the blockwith the front side, with a slack left as to the positioning of theupper block onto the lower one, inasmuch as the tongue of the lower onehas become smaller. As to this particular structure and its advantages,reference can be made again to the above-mentioned Canadian patent no.2,469,128.

As aforesaid, the present invention essentially lies in that the set ofsplitting grooves 15 which is provided in the unit 1 in order to allowsplitting of the blocks 3 and 3′ is not positioned just in the middle ofthe length of the unit as it was done so far. Such a set is actuallypositioned at a small distance away from the middle portion of thislength, in order to make the splitting off-center by a distance that mayof course vary depending on the consumers request (see the distances d1and d2 identified in FIGS. 3 and 4).

As a result of such an off-centering of the splitting grooves 15, theblocks 3 and 3′ are not of the same length and, more importantly, thedistance between their tongues and their front surfaces 17 on the onehand and between their tongues 7 and grooves 11 on the other hand, arenot the same, as is clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. As a result, whenthe blocks splitted from similar unit are stacked one upon the other,the front surface 17 of these blocks do not necessarily extend in a sameplane even if the blocks are extending in a same horizontal row, as itwas always obtained so far.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views of retaining walls made ofblocks obtained from units as shown in FIG. 4. In the embodiment shownin FIG. 5, each of the tongues 7 has been left as such. In other words,they have not been splitted. As a result, all the blocks have thetendency to form a wall that is battered. However, depending on thelength of the blocks, the front face of each of them may extend indifferent positions as is clearly illustrated.

If, however, as shown in FIG. 6, the tongues 7 of each block is splittedvia the grooves 13, the blocks may be stacked one upon the other inorder to form a vertical retaining wall. In such a case, the blocks mayhowever, depending on their size due to splitting along the grooves 15,still have their front surfaces that extend in different planes.

The result that may be achieved and the new look given to the wall isillustrated by way of a non restrictive example in FIG. 1.

As may be appreciated, the main advantage of the improvement forming thesubject matter of the present invention is that it is not necessary tohave multiple retaining wall block unit of different shapes andconfigurations in order to form blocks of different sizes to achieve aresult as shown in FIG. 1. As a matter of fact, the very same kind ofunits may be used to achieve any kind of look, as shown in FIGS. 1, 5and 6.

As aforesaid, the invention is not restricted to the very specificembodiment disclosed hereinabove inasmuch as it can be used with anykind of multiple wall retaining wall block units.

1. In a multiple retaining wall block unit provided with at least oneset of splitting grooves positioned in such a manner as to permitsplitting and separation of said blocks from said unit, the improvementwherein said at least one set of splitting grooves is located along saidunit in such a manner that the adjacent blocks that can be splitted, arenot of a same length.
 2. The improved unit of claim 1, wherein each ofthe blocks of said unit has an upper surface provided with at least oneupwardly projecting tongue and a bottom surface with at least one groovesized to receive the tongue of a similar block extending below when saidretaining wall is built up.
 3. The improved unit of claim 2, wherein:said unit comprises only two blocks having front surfaces facing eachother in a same vertical plane; the set of splitting grooves permittingsplitting of said two blocks is positioned in said vertical plane; andsaid vertical plane is off-center with respect to said unit.